How do you say “Kick the bucket” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is den Löffel abgeben, which literally means “to hand over the spoon”. English speakers use kick the bucket to mean to die, expressed in a joking or deliberately blunt way. Keep it for jokes or comic stories, not for comforting someone after a death. Register: informal. Usage frequency: occasional.
Closest natural German
den Löffel abgeben
/deːn ˈlœfl̩ ˈapˌɡeːbn̩/
- Literal meaning
- “to hand over the spoon”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- occasional
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
92 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
“Den Löffel abgeben” fits a comic story or someone joking about their own death. It is not a gentle way to tell someone that a loved one has died.
English also uses “kick the bucket” about broken machines. For those, German usually prefers “den Geist aufgeben.”
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in German?
ins Gras beißen
Literally: “to bite into the grass”
Another blunt, informal death expression.
sterben
Literally: “to die”
The direct neutral verb, suitable when humour would be hurtful.
In context
English
He joked that he wanted to see Rome before he kicked the bucket.
German
Er scherzte, dass er Rom sehen wolle, bevor er den Löffel abgibt.
English
The old pirate finally kicked the bucket at the end of the story.
German
Am Ende der Geschichte gab der alte Pirat schließlich den Löffel ab.
Related expressions
- What “Kick the bucket” means in English
- Call it a day, To stop for the day, or stop altogether.
- Under the weather, Mildly unwell.
Last updated 2026-09-16